Forever Falling
by NameForsaken
Summary: Weiss leans on her teammates after a confession causes her to second-guess herself. *Contains some original characters*


**Author's Note: So, my friend and I have kind of been going crazy during this RWBY hiatus, so to keep our minds in check until Volume 2, we decided to create our own characters based in the RWBY-verse. What started out as a few concepts and designs has turned into some pretty strongly-developed and (what we believe to be) loveable characters, and I've decided to test them out in some "what-if" types of scenarios with the already-established RWBY characters we all know and love. So, be warned, there are a couple of mentions/interactions with Original Characters, but I hope that regardless, you'll read, share, and enjoy! :)**

The tears on her cheeks were burning, now. Every nerve in her body was tender, and the only distraction Weiss had from her heartbreak was the sound of Ruby's steady, reassuring breath beside her. She opened her eyes and looked up at her teammate, longing to feel just a little bit closer to her. Everything was going to change now that her feelings for Mina were out in the open, and with each moment that passed, Weiss felt herself slip further away into a place of self-loathing. To Mina, she was probably nothing more than just an assignment, a first-year who she'd probably never even talk to again once she graduated from Beacon. Even Weiss's own father treated her as though she were a worthless piece of trash, and it was difficult for her not to think of herself that way sometimes. She was desperate to find some kind of meaning in her life, to feel anything other than the constant rejection she'd been forced to face since the date of her birth. She just wanted to be wanted.

Her heart hammering, she lifted herself to her knees, and turned to face her teammate. She raised a hand to the other girl's cheek, and before she could change her mind, she leaned forward, and lightly touched her lips to Ruby's, all of her pain and fear melting away in that moment. Immediately, the brunette pulled away, the look of confusion in her silver eyes nearly shattering Weiss's heart all over again.

"I—I'm sorry," Ruby whispered, mustering a fragile smile. "But I'm not—"

"I'm so _stupid_," Weiss groaned, cutting her off. She buried her face in her hands, too ashamed to look up at her teammate. "I don't know why I did that."

Ruby sighed. "It's okay. Just don't do it again."

Weiss squeezed her eyes shut. "Don't worry, I won't." She didn't even like Ruby like that—heck, she considered her a nuisance more than anything else. Sure, she had her moments, and she was finally starting to take her role as leader a little more seriously, but she was still just _Ruby_; young, ignorant, and sometimes immature. Besides, Weiss was already in love with Mina, no matter how much it killed her to admit it.

"It's getting dark," her teammate said after a moment, her tone more guarded than before. "We should probably start heading back."

_Just leave me here_, Weiss thought to herself, still unable to meet the girl's gaze. If they went back now, Blake and Yang would definitely notice that something about her was off. The last thing she needed was yet another round of Yang's Twenty Uncomfortable Questions.

Ruby let out an indignant grunt. "...And you're not going to listen to me, are you?"

Weiss bit her bottom lip. "Go on without me," she finally muttered, her voice muffled behind her palms. "I'll catch up in a minute."

"Right. I'm going to leave you here so you can almost be killed by a Beowolf again," Ruby said sarcastically. "Not going to happen."

"Ruby, just give me a second!" She lowered her hands from her face, and gave the girl an icy glare. "I'm still... _processing_ all of this."

The brunette folded her arms over her chest. "I'm not mad, or weirded out, about that kiss. So can you just get over it? We really _do_ need to head back."

Weiss leaned her head back against the bark of the tree, and it took everything in her not to roll her eyes at the girl. Even after their unusually pleasant conversation, even after everything that had just happened, Ruby still didn't seem to get that it was _more_ than just a confession to Mina, or a misplaced kiss—she still had these feelings that she didn't want to have, and pretty soon, all of Vale, including her father, would know the truth. She was becoming less like a Schnee every day, and more like a faceless nobody.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a low beeping sound coming from Ruby's corset, and she turned her attention to the girl just as she was taking out her scroll. She glanced at the screen once before shooting Weiss a knowing look, and tipping the device in her direction. "Yang wants to know where we are," she told her.

"Fine," Weiss said, pushing herself forward in the grass. She picked herself up to her feet, and walked over to her teammate. "Tell her we're on our way back, then... _Don't_ tell her anything else."

Ruby furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you going to be okay?"

Weiss pursed her lips together, and started walking toward the forest entrance. "I'll be fine. Just please, don't mention any of this to anyone."

"You know Yang's probably going to figure it out on her own anyway, right?" Ruby asked her, following closely behind.

She cast her gaze downward as she slowed her pace, wondering if she was really that easy to read. Sure, Yang always seemed to know the exact moment when Weiss started to think about Mina, but it wasn't much of a secret anymore that the girl was constantly on her mind. But _Ruby_? There was no way Yang would pick up on Weiss's awkward little mishap. Not unless her teammate opened her big mouth.

Ruby swung her arms lazily at her sides as she synced her steps with Weiss, a pensive expression on her face as the school's large, looming structure came into their view.

Weiss stopped walking as they neared the building's entrance, and reached for the other girl's forearm. "You're not going to tell, are you?"

Ruby scanned her surroundings for a moment before turning back to Weiss, and giving her a small shrug. "Not if you don't want me to."

"And if Yang asks what happened...?"

"I'll tell her I found you in the Fall by yourself," she said. "I won't even mention Mina."

Weiss released her grip on her teammate's arm, and drew in a deep breath. "You'll leave out the part about the Beowolf?"

Ruby nodded. "Like it never happened."

"Good." She took a couple of steps toward Beacon's front gate, and observed the mass groups of students walking around the school's grounds. When she didn't spot Mina, a sudden wave of relief washed over her, and she summoned just enough courage to take that last step through the gate. As long as she avoided Mina for the rest of the night, she would be able to recollect her thoughts, and figure out what to do about her situation when she awoke the next morning.

As she and Ruby continued toward the main building, Weiss caught sight of a tall, dark-skinned Faunus standing against a wall with his foot propped behind him, his emerald eyes staring up into the cloudy, purple sky.

"Isn't that Samuel?" Ruby asked her, following Weiss's gaze. "Wonder what he's doing out here by himself."

Weiss swallowed. If anyone would be able to understand what she was going through, it was Samuel. "I'm going to go check up on him. You go back to the dorm."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to run off again, are you? Because if you are—"

"No, Ruby, I just want to talk to him." She unfastened Myrtenaster from her belt, and handed it to her teammate. "Here, take this inside. _Don't_ mess with my Dust."

The brunette gave her a mischievous smile. "So tempting..." She took the rapier with her left hand, and lowered it to her side. "See ya later."

Weiss waited until Ruby was inside before turning her attention back to Samuel, and starting in his direction. As she approached him, the hurt and rejection that she had been feeling all day began to resurface, but instead of holding back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes, she picked up her speed, and frantically threw herself at the Faunus. "Sam!" she choked, dropping to her knees before him. "I did something really, really dumb."

Samuel's eyes widened in bewilderment, and he slowly slid down the wall to Weiss's level. He hesitantly lifted a hand to the girl's shoulder, and cleared his throat. "Weiss, I've got to say, I've never seen you like this before."

"I know, I know," she said breathlessly, trying her hardest not to cry. She was so tired of having to hide her emotions, so tired of being misunderstood by everyone around her. Samuel was the only one who knew what it was like to want something he couldn't have, the only one who understood how much it hurt having to put on a brave face for the world every single day. "I just... I don't know what to do anymore."

He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Don't talk like that. I'm sure whatever it is, you'll find a way to get past it."

She shook her head. "No, you don't understand... I _told_ Mina. It kind of just slipped out, and now I've ruined everything."

"Wait, you mean you _told _her... you love her?"

Weiss felt her face flush as she met his warm, sympathetic gaze. "My exact words were, 'I love you, and I'm sorry things couldn't be different between us.'"

Samuel gritted his teeth. "Yeesh, how did she take it?"

"I... I kind of ran away before she had the chance to respond." Weiss lifted a hand to her face, and brushed away a few strands of long, white hair that had stuck to her cheeks. "Have you seen her within the past hour or so?"

He frowned. "I'm afraid not." He removed his hand from her shoulder, and dropped it into his lap. "I can't imagine how terrified I'd be if Jaune ever found out how I felt... I always knew you were crazy, Weiss, but I never thought you'd let something like that slip."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Hey! I didn't come over here to be insulted!"

"Relax," he said, straightening his back. "I'm only trying to get you to lighten up."

Weiss exhaled sharply, wanting nothing more at that moment than to just curl up in a ball and hide away from the world. "I just... I don't want to lose her. But now I'm afraid I've messed it all up."

Samuel gave her a sideward glance. "If you really think Mina's going to want to stop being your friend just because you have unrequited feelings for her, then you really don't know her as much as you may have thought."

"I—" Weiss closed her eyes. "That's not what I'm afraid of."

"Oh," he murmured, his tone suddenly softer than before. "I think I get it. You're afraid of being rejected—of being hurt."

Her breath caught in her throat as her friend's words sank in. Somehow, she knew he would understand, but she didn't realize how painful it would be to finally hear the truth. "I—I let her in," she whimpered. "I gave her complete control when I told her that... She doesn't know it, but anything she does now could either make me or break me."

"It's scary," Samuel agreed. "It's why I still haven't gathered up the nerve to tell Jaune how I feel about him... But you're going to be okay, Weiss. You'll see."

She sniffled, opening her eyes. "If my father saw me like this, _vulnerable_, he would probably just tell me to suck it up, and turn his back to me until I've finished crying... He'd say something like, 'Schnees must always be composed—no one must see the imperfections inside.'"

Samuel rolled his eyes. "You know I think that's complete bull."

"He'd probably smack you if he heard you say that..." She wiped away a fresh trail of tears with the back of her hand, and lowered her gaze to the cool, damp grass below her. As the moon started to rise above them, the air became chilly, and Weiss knew that if she didn't head inside soon, she would catch a cold.

Samuel seemed to sense this, though, as he removed his blazer, and carefully wrapped it around Weiss's shoulders. "Your father doesn't intimidate me."

She pulled the blazer tightly around her, and buried her face in its sleeves as she let out a strained sob. "He would probably try to have you killed, Samuel... One look at those ears, and he'd send all of his security to take you down."

He made a point to his wiggle his ears as a wicked grin spread across his face. "He can try all he wants, but no one's messing with this Faunus."

Weiss looked up at him. "Your confidence amazes me sometimes, you know that?"

He just smirked. "I could say the same about you most of the time. Tonight, though, not so much."

"I'm sorry," she said, smoothing her hands over the folds in her skirt. "I know I'm not myself right now... I just needed a moment to let it all out."

"You don't have to apologize, Weiss," Samuel assured her. "It's okay to break down every once in a while, despite what your father may have told you."

She gave him a short nod. "I'm not going to be able to keep it from him forever, though. He's bound to realize there's something _different_ about me."

Her friend crossed his arms. "Are you talking about your feelings for Mina again? Because I just don't see why it would matter so much to him... It's your life, you should be able to live it however you want, free to feel whatever you want."

"Because I'm a _Schnee_," she told him. "I'm not _supposed_ to have these feelings. I'm _supposed_ to be a normal, strong, independent girl. It's really not about what my father thinks, it's about how the rest of the world may perceive us if I'm not exactly the person he raised me to be."

Samuel sighed. "Again, I think that's ridiculous."

Weiss bit the inside of her cheek. He wasn't the only one who felt that way, but if Weiss ever told her father what she truly thought of him, and his impossible standards, there was no way she'd make it to see the end of that conversation. "Anyway, I guess it doesn't matter right now, since people here seem to be a little more lenient, but the second I step foot into my home again, I've got to find a way to go back to being that perfect little girl."

"And you will," he promised her. "But like you said, right now, none of that matters."

She gave him a half-smile, and turned her head up toward the quickly-darkening sky. The moon's fragments were now shining bright above them, and most of the groups of students had long since retreated inside. Weiss's eyelids began to feel heavy as exhaustion weighed upon her, but she wasn't ready to go back to her team just yet. "Samuel... When I saw you just a while ago, you were standing here by yourself. You appeared to be deep in thought."

He let out a light laugh. "I was probably thinking the same thing you were, then. About how much it sucks to like someone who will never like you back."

"Jaune?" Weiss tried her best not to look disinterested. While she was grateful to finally have someone who shared her forbidden feelings, she still had a difficult time wrapping her head around the fact that Samuel's "special someone" was none other than Jaune Arc, the biggest klutz in Beacon.

Samuel ran a hand through his wild mane of hair, and distractedly scratched at the backs of his lion-like ears. "I had a dream about him last night," he said after a moment.

Weiss blinked. "Oh?"

"It was very realistic," he continued. "The two of us—Jaune and I—were just hanging out in the war room, practicing our sparring, when one of Cardin's guys came up behind Jaune, and dumped a bucket of ice water over his head. Since I'm a third-year, the stupid kid barely gave me a second look, but I took advantage of that to use my Semblance to scare the living daylights out of him... Pulled some needles out of my belt, and directed them at him with a deafening roar. I stopped the needles before they could touch him, of course, but I'd knocked him back so hard, he ended up falling right back into the bucket, getting a taste of his own elixir."

Weiss huffed. "Now I know where Mina gets her prankster habits from..."

He gave her a sly wink. "I told you, no one messes with this Faunus—_or_ his friends."

"It appears so," she enthused.

Samuel dropped his arms to his sides, and leaned his head back against the wall. "But anyway, after that, Cardin's boy fled the war room, sopping wet, and Jaune was absolutely in awe of what I'd just done. I told him we could stop training so he could dry off, so he agreed, and we headed back to the locker room."

Weiss felt her face redden as she realized where Samuel was going with this. Still, she kept her mouth shut, if only because a part of her was actually slightly amused.

"I kept an eye out for any more of Team CRDL while Jaune changed into something dry, but no one else was around at the time, so I ended up just going back to Jaune, and sitting with him until he could catch his breath," Samuel said. "He said he was grateful for my help, but that he would've been able to handle himself if I would've just let him... I apologized, though, told him I couldn't help it, but he didn't seem to understand. He said he noticed that I was always coming to his rescue, but I tried playing it off as just being a good friend... He knew better, though—Pyrrha did the same for him before she ended up confessing that she had a crush—"

"I'm pretty sure that never happened," Weiss interrupted. "I would've heard about her saying something like that."

He just rolled his eyes. "This was a dream, Weiss, remember?"

"Right," she said. "Sorry. Continue."

"Anyway, even though it was pretty much written all over my face, I refused to give him the satisfaction of admitting how I really felt." His ears began to droop as he hesitated for a moment, and Weiss could see that talking about this was taking a lot out of him.

_I admire your courage_, she thought about the Faunus, giving him what she thought to be a comforting smile.

"So he—he somehow thought it would be a good idea to force it out of me," Samuel muttered, his voice beginning to thin. "He grabbed me by the wrists, pulled me into him, and kissed me... But then I woke up."

Weiss gasped. "That—that's cruel. And completely out of character for someone like Jaune."

He shrugged. "That's how I knew it wasn't real—but it still got to me, you know?"

"Yeah..." She clasped her hands together in her lap, pressing her nails deeply into her skin as her fingers started to numb from the continuous drop in temperature. "We're both hopeless, aren't we?"

"_I_ am not hopeless," Samuel insisted. "And neither are you. Maybe a little lovesick, but definitely not hopeless... There has to be other people out there like us."

Weiss stifled a yawn. "I guess you're right... But then again, it doesn't really matter. No one in Vale is stupid enough to admit to having feelings for someone of the same gender, nonetheless act on them."

"No one except for you, Weiss," he teased. He reached his arms above him, and stretched them up toward the sky. "But hey, as much as I'd love to continue this conversation, I don't think I'd be able to speak coherently much longer without a little shut-eye."

She glanced down at the blazer that covered her slender body, and reluctantly slipped it off. She handed it back to Samuel. "I guess I am a little tired, too."

Her friend got to his feet, and offered her his hand. "If you'd like me to, I'll have a talk with Mina. Make sure she goes easy on you the next time you cross paths."

"No, that's alright," Weiss said, taking his hand. She stood up, and steadied herself against his strong body. She broke away from him, and took a couple of steps back toward the entrance of the main building. "Thank you for listening, though."

He started off in the opposite direction, toward the school's dining hall. He waved over his shoulder as he walked away, disappearing into the last crowd of students as they made their way inside.

Weiss turned her back to him, and entered the main building, surprised to find that the foyer was empty. She sucked in a rigid breath, and took the nearest hall to the student dormitories. On the way to her room, she tried to push everything that had happened within the past couple of hours into the back of her mind, even though she knew Yang would probably talk it all out of her by the end of the night. Showing up late without an explanation had become a habit for Weiss, now, one she knew she ought to break.

Hesitantly, she stopped in front of her room, and lifted a hand to the doorknob. As she pushed through the door, bright, yellow light flooded out into the dark hallway, causing Weiss to wince. She shielded her eyes with her arm as she stepped into the room, and allowed her vision to adjust to her surroundings.

"Well, look who it is," Yang called out from her bunk almost immediately as Weiss made her presence known. She swung her feet over the side of the bed, and jumped down to the hardwood floor beneath them, landing with a resounding thud. "When I saw Ruby with your weapon, I kind of thought you'd been eaten by a Grimm, or something."

She lowered her arm to her side, and narrowed her eyes at her teammate. "I'm still here. Sorry to disappoint." She turned toward her own bunk, and was pleased to find Myrtenaster laid out carefully at the foot of her bed. She glanced up at the bed above her, but the sheets that surrounded her leader's bunk were drawn, which meant that the girl probably did not want to be disturbed.

"So, where were you?" Yang continued to press, taking a seat in the rocking chair by the door.

Weiss gently picked up her weapon, and carried it over to her luggage in the far left corner of the room. "I was taking a walk in the Forever Fall."

The blonde gave her a studious look. "You know, you've been taking a lot of 'walks' by yourself outside of Beacon, lately."

"The weather's been nice," she just said, knowing that Yang probably didn't buy her excuse for a second. She opened up a thin, rectangular case, and set her rapier inside, securing the armor-covered lid, and sliding it against the wall.

Yang crossed one leg over the other, and leaned back in her chair. "Mina stopped by a little while ago, looking for you. I know you were with her."

Weiss's stomach dropped at the mention of her mentor's name. She slowly walked back to her bed, and positioned herself on the edge of the mattress so that she was facing Yang. "What did she say?"

"That you were in the Forever Fall together, and that you ran off for some reason, but you told her not to follow you, so she came back to Beacon instead."

"Oh." She glanced at the bunk across from her, where Blake was propped on her elbows, her gaze glued to a book that was splayed open on top of her pillow. She didn't seem to be paying much attention to Yang and Weiss's conversation, but even if she was, Weiss knew Blake wouldn't say another word about it. "Is that all?"

Her teammate cocked her head to the side, shooting Weiss a look of suspicion. "She said she's worried about you..."

Weiss frowned. She wondered why Mina seemed to care so much, or what it even was that she was so worried about. Even if Samuel was right, and that Mina wanted to still try and preserve their friendship, it didn't change the fact that now every time Weiss heard the girl's name come up, it made her want to crawl away and hide. "I'm fine," she told Yang, an obvious lie. "I wish everyone would stop treating me like I'm not, though."

"That's just the thing, Weiss," Yang said, arching an eyebrow. "You can say it all you want, but it's pretty obvious to me that you're _not_ fine... I don't know what happened between you and Mina, but whatever it was, it's got you pretty shaken up."

Without warning, Weiss's bottom lip began to tremble. She hated that Yang always seemed to see right through her, no matter how high and strong she built the walls around her heart. Her facade had worked almost flawlessly around her family and acquaintances for years, but the moment she took her first step onto Beacon's campus months ago, it was as if all of those walls just suddenly came crashing down. "Why do you even care?" she asked her teammate, her voice beginning to crack.

"Because this isn't like you," the blonde commiserated. She pressed a fist to her temple, and gave Weiss a long, sad glance. "I know you're sick of talking about it, but sometimes, the best way to overcome these types of things is to just let it out... I'm only trying to help."

Weiss's eyes began to fill with tears again, and she immediately averted her gaze, afraid that Yang, and the rest of her teammates, would notice. She tried to take a few breaths, but each time, her throat seemed to close tighter, forcing Weiss to give in to the tears, and to the shame that always accompanied each one. She flung herself across her bed, and buried her face into her pillow, silently pleading with herself to just stop the tears from flowing. But it was too late, and she was well-aware that Yang had seen her, and just the thought of how pathetic she looked only caused her to cry even harder. She didn't even know _why_ she was so upset, just that she wanted it to all be over, and for her roommates to go away.

Almost as soon as Weiss's tears had started, Yang had sprung out of her chair, and made her way to Weiss's bed. "What did I do?" she said in a panicked voice, her presence looming dauntingly over Weiss like an anvil hanging from a frayed rope. "Weiss, look at me."

"Stop, just _stop_," Weiss squeaked, rolling away from the girl. "You don't _get_ it; you _never_ will!"

Yang let out a frustrated sigh. "Get _what_?"

"Everyone loves you!" She lowered the pillow from her face, but still refused to make eye-contact. Instead, she focused her gaze intently on the nearest wall, blinking fiercely as a stream of tears continued to run down her cheeks. "You could have any guy you want, Yang. You're nice, free-spirited, and you're never afraid to speak what's on your mind... I'm nothing but a cold, ruthless little brat who can't even get my own father to pay attention to me... _Nobody_ wants me."

"Do you really think that's true?"

She gulped back a sob. "How could anybody want me when I don't even want myself?"

"You don't really mean that," Yang told her. She lowered herself to the edge of Weiss's bunk, and gently laid a hand on her shoulder.

Weiss flinched instinctively at the girl's touch. She wasn't used to this type of affectionate gesture, but as much as she wanted to push Yang away, she couldn't find the energy or strength to protest. "I just want to be alone," she whispered.

Yang leaned in closer to her until Weiss could feel her warm, soothing breath against the back of her neck. "No one wants to be alone, Weiss. Not even you."

Her muscles tensed as Yang draped an arm around Weiss's crumpled body, but she quickly realized that no matter how much she complained or cried, her teammate was not going to leave. It was never in Yang's nature to abandon someone who was hurt, either physically or emotionally, and Weiss should've figured her broken heart was no exception. Even if she didn't give Yang the satisfaction of revealing what happened between her and Mina back in the forest, it was still nice to know that, even if she didn't always feel or want it, she had someone to lean on.

"You're going to be okay, Princess," Yang assured her as Weiss quivered timidly in her arms. She rested her chin against Weiss's small, fragile shoulders, and protectively tightened her embrace.

Weiss closed her eyes again, her breathing finally starting to slow, and morosely wondered if her teammate was right. Maybe, all she needed was just to have a little faith for once. So Mina didn't love her; it wasn't the end of the world. No matter how hard things got, she knew, despite all of the bitterness in her heart, that she still had a good group of friends looking out for her, and that at the end of the day, they would always be the ones to pull her through.


End file.
